Gundam SeeD : Shiroi Tsubasa
by Spiritblade
Summary: [One Shot] Based on the episode when Kira and Lacus watched a new war unfold before their eyes, and the inevitability of their choices.


**_A Gundam SeeD fanfic _**

**_Shiroi Tsubasa _**

**_Written by Spiritblade_**

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam SeeD, its characters, or its franchises. As stated before, do not send those irritating lawyers or the Assassin Orders on my sorry carcass. I am simply not worth the effort. Why some people continue to try is really beyond me.

This is a short Kira-Lacus story, and is inspired by GS-Destiny, when the two lovers watch from Earth the peace so many have sacrificed so much for, shatter. This story is mostly Lacus's POV. I cannot remember the exact date a new war erupted…so correct me if I'm wrong. I may edit this little piece if it seems wrong later on.

Without further ado…

**_Orb C.E. 73, March 14th, Sunday 2230 hrs_**

The saying that Time heals all wounds is true up to a certain extent. With the passage of time, scars heal, enmity fades, and anger gives way to yearning for peace. What it does not say, however, is what passes in between the ticks of the cosmic clock, and the events that thousands bear witness as history is made.

But sometimes, the scars do not heal.

The hate does not die.

The anger deepens.

Demagogues have strode the hallowed ground of Holy Terra long after Man had stood erect and raised civilisations. They followed Man to the stars as it raised one tentative hand to grasp a great destiny and, for a brief moment, they saw all that they could inherit if they but worked together. Those centuries were glorious as Man began an outward leap.

Eventually, some of those demagogues surrendered their hate in awe of a future that could be theirs. There was no question that one day, Man would leave the solar system to find new worlds to colonise, and find new friends and lovers, foes and bitter rivals, amongst the myriad races that may or may not inhabit the stars.

But…there is no question that Man will drag its follies with it when it does so.

The race of Man is doomed…no, damned to make the same mistakes over and over. The racial war between the Naturals and the Coordinators was nothing but a repetition of a sad chapter of human history that has happened a hundred times before. Scour away the politics and lies, and therein lies all the reason why Man raises his hand against his brother.

Perhaps, in a way, God was right to cast Man out from Eden – and not just for the sin of eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Many times ever since the Exile, the One Above was proven right in His decision, and just as many times, proven wrong. The race of Man had in it the capacity of performing awe-inspiring heroism, or gut-wrenching evil.

'It is always the darkest before the dawn' – that is one saying that Lacus Klein loved above all else. It was a proverb that had so many different layers to it, bespeaking of hope and faith that even the most cynical could not deny. After the darkness of the War in CE 71, the dawn that came in the form of a peace treaty between Earth and ZAFT promised a blessed, silent night where the Scarlet and Pale Riders would rest thankfully from their task.

It was a world where broken, scarred heroes lowered their weapons gratefully, finally allowing tears to wash away the blood on their faces and the rain to wash their crimson hands clean. Her Kira was one of those heroes, and the image of the broken, scarred knight never left her mind whenever she gazed upon him. The pink-haired singer knew that she gazed at Kira through the eyes of a child whose heart remembered fondly those dashing heroes and handsome princes from fairy tales and romance novels. Those fictional heroes were perfect in every sense of the word, and peerless on the battlefield. Lacus outgrew those fantasies as she grew older, but it came back in force when she met the amethyst-eyed Coordinator abroad the Archangel.

Like those fictional heroes, Kira had been formidable on the field of battle, embarrassing – she later found out – the ZAFT forces in every skirmish by continuously outfighting them, even though outnumbered.

But, unlike those heroes, Kira had been imperfect. She remembered his anguished, tortured scream back then; it was a scream of agony that spoke of terrible sorrow, of more pain than any mortal being had any right to endure. And some nights, Lacus felt her heart wrench whenever she heard that anguished cry as Kira's nightmares overwhelm him, and would hold him until those angry ghosts fell silent.

Unlike those fictional heroes who seem to shrug away the consequences of their actions and the sacrifices they made upon the altar to attain victory, Kira would forever live with them. They were gouged right into the framework of his soul and he knew would live with the memory of his deeds till the day he died. His lean body bore the scars of the last war, the most prominent one being a scar over his heart. They told the story of that sad conflict, telling its beginnings and its ending without the need of any words.

But, even though the war had ended, Lacus found it hard to believe that another war would not erupt between PLANT and Earth. There were great, but not insurmountable, differences between the two factions. The question was whether both sides were willing to honour the treaty they made, or allow extremist factions to lead them by the nose, as it was during the war 2 years prior.

Although the Chairmanship of PLANT fell to Gilbert Dullindal, and Earth's leadership had changed after the bloody war, there were signs that Earth had forgotten the bitter lessons of the past – and that PLANT had other ulterior motives. And so, after she and Kira had moved from Father Marukio's wooden orphanage to Orb, she used her influences to acquire the resources and manpower needed to restore the Freedom as well as repair and upgrade the Archangel.

And she prayed that Kira would never need to ever fly out again, and that the decision she made to prepare for another war would prove to be a wrong one. She felt her heart splinter as she stood beside Kira, watching the same lights that could be seen in the starlit skies when 2 angels streaked through the heavens to protect innocents from that same sword of light that had started that war.

She reached out one slender hand and held her beloved's callused ones, and felt his lean body against hers as she drew her closer, his eyes never leaving the sight of nuclear light illuminating the night skies in the region where the PLANTs were located. It was a sight that was seen by ever man, woman and child across the world, and across the colonised territories.

It was a sight that told them that the Crimson and Pale Riders have come to reap a bloody harvest once more, awoken to the hateful cries of those who would not – could not – surrender their hate. It was a sight to all those heroes who had sacrificed so much on the altar of battle that all their efforts had been for naught, and that a second confrontation was unavoidable.

They had fought in the war 2 years ago to find an answer to a question.

2 years later, the question that begged an answer now demanded an answer.

Did they still have time to stop an apocalypse?

Yes, they had time, but not much.

Should they even try to stop this?

They had to, or those who have died would have died for nothing.

"Kira…"she whispered softly.

"I know, Lacus. Those are the swords of light we tried to protect PLANT against. It's happening again," and drew the pink-haired singer into his arms. Lacus felt something wet against her shoulder, and didn't need to see Kira to know that he was crying. In that gesture, she knew that he had made his decision. And it hurt to know that she could do nothing to change it. The white wings of the angel would spread once again, bringing upon its wings a single prayer that had been voiced by Mankind for countless centuries.


End file.
